Angelica Nwandu

[(writer + music) x alumni] = RESILIENCE

Angelica is a recent graduate from Loyola Marymount University. She is of Nigerian decent and entered foster care at early age due to a tragic event in which her mother was killed by her father. This traumatic experience never stopped Angelica from pursuing her dreams. She joined the Peace4Kids poetry team when she was 14 and put this tragedy to spoken word. Her interpretation of the event gave her the opportunity to travel across the country and share her story. Today, Angelica is pursuing a career in music while she maintains a full-time job. Her hope is that her words will inspire future foster care generations to stand up and be heard.

QUESTION: Why did you get involved in the Fostering Resiliency project?

ANSWER: I know the power of words. It has the ability to heal the deepest wounds if you can use them in the right way. The Fostering Resiliency project is about using the collective words of the foster care community to create a vision of what is possible for the world. How could you not want to be a part of that?

QUESTION: What perceptions about the foster care experience do you hope to change?

ANSWER: Until I joined the poetry team at Peace4Kids, I didn't know any other foster youth. Once I heard others openly sharing their experience I was no longer alone, but part of a larger community. I want other foster youth to have that same experience. To understand that they are not alone but a part of a larger community of resilient youth who can overcome great obstacles.

QUESTION: What impact do you think Fostering Change can have on the foster care community?

ANSWER: Fostering Change can be the inspiration for innovative ideas in child welfare reform. What we do today doesn't work because we only talk about what's wrong with foster youth, not what's right. When we change this conversation then future foster care generations will not have to struggle through their experience and those that serve them will understand our culture. It's like that song that gets stuck in your head, once you know the lyrics the only thing you can do is sing out loud because you know it needs to be heard.